Tom Maciejewski

for Town Council of Berkeley Heights

Berkeley Heights Sunshine Act

January 19, 2017

Berkeley Heights Sunshine Act

Based on recent incidents where the Berkeley Heights Town
Council has chosen to hide and confound important information that
would provide the town with valuable insight, I would like to
present the Berkeley Heights Sunshine Act.

This Ordinance is an extension of the Open Public Meetings
Act. The sole purpose of this Act is to increase the level
of transparency in Berkeley Heights. Transparency is
an imperative ingredient for bi-lateral trust in the community and
it allows citizens a better understanding of what their elected
officials are working on and how their tax money is being
spent.

I have asked that this can be discussed on the Jan 24th, 2017
Berkeley Heights Town Council meeting. Hopefully to be
accepted into law.

Below is the entire Text of the Berkeley Heights Sunshine
Act.

Short title: This Ordinance may be cited as the
“Berkeley Heights Sunshine Act” and is referred to
below as the “Act” and shall constitute a new chapter
named "Public Meetings" under Title 2 "Administration of Personnel"
of the Municipal Code.

Findings: The people of the Township of
Berkeley Heights find that good government depends on knowledgeable
citizens who are able to observe and participate in government
meetings to the maximum possible extent. Such enables
citizens to more effectively participate in public affairs, help
determine governmental priorities and to hold their public
officials accountable. Inadequate or delayed public access to
meetings and information allows corruption to flourish undetected
and unpunished. Government secrecy allows backroom deals to set
public policy in the interest of the few rather than the many.
It is understood, accepted and intended by the people of the
Township of Berkeley Heights that this Act will impose
responsibilities upon the Township’s bodies, officials and
employees greater than that which is required by the Open Public
Meetings Act, N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq.

Scope: This Act shall apply to the Township
Council, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Adjustment and each other
body set forth in Title 2 of the Municipal Code that is subject to
the provisions of the Open Public Meetings Act.

Agenda: At least 48 hours prior to each
meeting, each public body within the scope of this Act shall
prominently post on the Township's Internet site its meeting
agenda. The agenda shall include the date, hour and location
of the meeting and each individual item to be discussed or acted
upon, and a brief description thereof, and shall identify the names
of the parties to and approximate dollar amounts of any contracts,
including employment contracts, to be discussed or acted upon. No
public body shall act upon a matter that is not listed on the
agenda for which notice was given 48 hours prior to the meeting
except that a public body may, upon the affirmative vote of a
majority of the members present at a meeting, add an item to the
agenda for that meeting when necessary to deal with a matter of
such urgency and importance that a delay for the purpose of
providing adequate notice would likely result in substantial harm
to the public interest, and provided that the minutes contain a
statement that explains in detail: a) the reason for adding that
item to the agenda, b) why the item did not appear on the agenda
for that meeting, and c) why delaying consideration of the item
would be likely to result in substantial harm to the public
interest. Whenever a public body publicly discloses an agenda
pursuant to this subsection that includes a reference to an
attachment, appendix, or other document that is a government
record, the public body shall simultaneously make that attachment,
appendix, or other document available to the public on Township's
Internet site, and shall include within the agenda an easy to
access hyperlink to that the attachment, appendix, or other
document.

Public Participation: Every public body within
the scope of this Act shall provide a general public comment
session near the beginning of each public meeting which provides
each member of the public who wishes to address the public body at
least five minutes to do so.

Recording equipment: No member of any
public body within the scope of this Act shall, during a public
meeting, communicate privately by means of communication equipment,
including electronic mail, instant messaging or similar
technologies.

Closed or executive meetings: Prior to
excluding the public from a meeting, every public body within the
scope of this Act shall pass a resolution which shall, in addition
to the requirements of N.J.S.A.10:4-13, describe each topic to be
privately discussed in as much detail as possible. Such
public bodies shall also record comprehensive minutes of its
meeting, including those from which the public is excluded,
showing, at a minimum, the time and place, the members
present, the subjects considered, the actions taken,
including all motions made, the identities of the moving and
seconding members, the vote of each member and each member’s
stated reasons, if any, for his or her action or vote, the identity
of each member of the public who spoke and a summary of what was
said, and any other information required to be shown in the minutes
by law. Such minutes shall be posted on the Township's
Internet site as soon as possible but not later than 60 days after
the meeting, or by the second meeting of the public body occurring
after the meeting for which minutes were prepared, whichever occurs
later, to the extent that making such matters public shall not be
inconsistent with N.J.S.A. 10:4-12.

At least quarterly, each public body subject to this Act shall
conduct a review of the minutes of any previous meeting that
occurred on or after January 1, 2016 and where any part has been
withheld from public access. The review shall determine whether any
parts of any such minutes that have been withheld from public
access can now be made accessible to the public. If the public body
determines that any part of previously withheld minutes can now be
disclosed to the public, it shall make that part thereof accessible
to the public on the Township's Internet site.

Audio recordings: Each public body
within the scope of this Act shall cause audio recordings to be
made of each of its public meetings and unedited versions of those
recordings shall be made available on the Township's Internet site
not later than the 5th business day following the meeting.

Effective Date and Scope: This Act shall take
effect on the sixtieth day after enactment and shall be published
as required by law.

Construction: This act is remedial and shall
be liberally construed to effectuate its findings and
purposes.

Saving Clause: If any portion of this Act
shall be declared to be unconstitutional, invalid or inoperative,
in whole or in part, by a court of competent jurisdiction, such
portion shall, to the extent that it is not unconstitutional,
invalid or inoperative, remain in full force and effect, and no
such determination shall be deemed to invalidate the remaining
portions of this Act.

Repealer: All ordinances inconsistent with
the provisions of this Act are repealed to the extent of such
inconsistency.